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<pre wrap="">I'm rereading Long Lake, and in Exodus Remora informs Mint that child
sacrifice used to be practiced in manteions in the Whorl. So this is plainly a
concern of Wolfe's, just as it is to Christians in general (Abraham). (I
would guess the slang term "abram"=crazy comes from this practice.)
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<pre wrap="">
Jerry Friedman wrote:
As everyone here but me probably knows already, an "Abraham man" or
"Abram man" was a beggar, later also a petty criminal, who pretended to
be insane.
The OED says, "The original reason for the association
of Abraham with madness is unclear; the parable of the beggar Lazarus
being ‘carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom’ (Luke 16:22, A.V.)
may be relevant, and the story of Abraham's departure from his own
country (Genesis 12)may perhaps have led to an association with
vagrancy. Evidence to support the assertion (see e.g. J. Timbs Things Not Generally Known
(1856) 127, J. C. Hotten Slang Dict. (new ed., 1864 ) 65) that there
was an ‘Abraham ward’ in the Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem is
lacking."</pre>
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<br>
Human sacrifice is practiced elsewhere. It is the best way to summon
a god to a sacred window--especially child sacrifice. When Echidna
possessed Marble at Rose's funeral, she demanded a sacrifice to
herself of dozens of children. So presumably they still do that in
Trivigaunte where she is still worshiped as the only god. <br>
<br>
Prolocutor Quetzal ended human sacrifice particularly in order to
prevent the appearance of a god at the manteons. He claims he did it
to prevent people from finding out that Pas had been murdered. But
it is more likely that he doesn't want to be around when a god
appears lest they see through his disguise. But he could have more
than one reason.<br>
<br>
You know, I don't want to disparage the writers of the OED but
reviewing it casually the connection seems obvious:<br>
<br>
1) Abram/Abraham twice attempted to con people by passing his wife
off as his sister.<br>
<br>
2) The term "Abraham man" became a term for sham artist or con man.
Eventually, the term "abram" settled onto a particular type of sham
artist: beggars who pretended to be mad in order to illicit
sympathy. And that is the connection between "abram" and madness.<br>
<br>
I can't find anywhere that "abram" is ACTUALLY defined as being mad
(as it means in Viron), rather than pretending to be mad. Having
nothing to do with anything, the Universal Etymological English
Dictionary [1737] defines "abram" as being naked or nearly naked.<span
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<br>
("Apocalypto" is among the best action films ever made. I can
understand Jerry's personal aversion to Gibson, but he is not
overrated as a film maker.)<br>
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